licking paws

walter has been chewing on 2 of his paws for the past week. its driving me crazy (his favorite time to do it is on the bed when im trying to sleep), causing bit mats in his feet, and probably making them totally raw.

i dont see anything stuck in there and i dont think its allergies because its only two paws.... does anyone have any suggestions on what it could be?

also i really dont want to go to the vet because i just paid 88 dollars for his medication and we have to pay more big $$ for blood tests next month... so im trying to avoid it if possible!

It really could be allergies. Kayli suffers from this every summer and it's the front paws that get the attention. That sound - the slurp slurp slurp - can drive me totally crazy. I used tea tree oil spray this time and that helped some. The only thing that's really helped is the prednisone, but not permanently; I usually have to give her two rounds of it.

This year was an awful year for allergies.

Jil

Sounds like allergies. Could be environmental or food. On the other hand it could be his way of going to sleep. Fox slurps his feet at night. You are right, it drives me crazy.

My collie/shepherd...now at the Bridge at 17 yrs....licked at his feet every night before he went to sleep...vet thought he was destressing after a busy day...sure miss hearing the slurping even though it did drive me bonkers

This same issue is being discussed one OES-L right now. Here are some thoughts........I've trimmed a lot.

Could be food, could be environmental, or even a combination of both.

Go to a holistic vet. A traditional vet usually just wants to solve the problem with steriods.

Licking gets to be habit forming, tackle this thing as soon as possible.

Wash her feet with a mixture of half apple cider vinegar and half water. (especiall when coming inside) The acidity of the acv will combat the "yeasty" issues that
licking her feet is producing.

Put socks or dog boots on her feet.

Could be an "anxiety" type of reaction too! Is he licking his fur or the pads of his feet? Are his pads cracked???

Did you ever get Walter's Thyroid tested????

Good thought, thyroid!! Why didn't I think of that.....Duh!

i think hes licking the pads, either that or the part in the middle of them. they are not cracked, just red and raw from all the licking. he does it all the time now not just at night...

I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING!! my dad bought the wrong kind of food last time and it had beef it in that used to make him throw up.... he hasnt been throwing up but i bet thats what its from!

thanks guys.

Heather,

Try Bag Balm. It comes in a little tin and it tastes bad, will re-moisturize the pads and has some antibiotic properties. It is used on chapped teats of milk cows. When Tyler starts chewing something or someplace I put bag balm on it and it usually ends.

Also, those sore spots might heal up fast by putting warm used tea bags on them for as long as the dog can stand it, it used to work wonders with my golden Sam. Dancer chews one of her back feet, just lately, and when I checked her feet last night I discovered a tiny bit of matting right close to the skin between the toes and the big paw pad. I'm going to trim it tonight, but I'm not sure how since it is so close to the skin???

do you have one of those tiny human nail scissors- I think they use them on infants? That ought to be snall enough to get between her pads and snip off the matted fur.

Karen

I recently took Max to the vet for a hotspot, but at the time I didn't know what it was. The vet told me that every other dog he seen in the past few days is due to hotspots. He says its been a tough season. So his skin around his feet just may be irritated. Max may have another one, and I have just covered up by pulling a sock over his leg so he cant itch at it.

I've been doing a lot of reserch on dog food for the last coulple of weeks since we are getting our female OES puppy on the 29th. Much of the info I've read had to do with paw licking and alergies caused by dog food. I don't have any first hand knowledge on the subject but many of the reviews and testimonials relating to the higher quality foods show a great improvement after a switch to a human grade food. To me it seems like common sense that the higher quality of food, the less likely a pooch is to have problems, be thay skin problems or alergies. We will be transitioning our pup from the Eukanuba Lamb and Rice puppy food that the breeder is feeding her to Canidae dry. It's more expensive but you can and should feed less so it seems like a wash as far as expense-not to mention the potential for less vet visits/expenses.

i have a similar issue and dont know what to do. i have a lab mut and she started licking the tops of her paws years ago after a groomer cut 5 of her 10 front nails so short the bled. i have always thought it was behavioral but now she has moved on to her elbows. she is so sensitive about her paws that she growls at me if i try to touch them. has anyone had a problem as severe as this?